A Bellinghamster On Wheels

Tag Archives: Bike racks

I love living in this mostly bike-friendly town. On any given day particularly during the summer, you can see numerous flashes of ANSI yellow or orange (we’re also a fairly safety conscious town as well) dart through the streets. Everywhere you go, there are cyclists pedaling their way to unknown locations. It makes me smile just to think of it. Bike racks adorn almost every downtown street and shopping area and they get used. Depending on the destination or day though, sometimes there just aren’t enough racking spaces to go around. Several times now I’ve pulled up to a bike rack only to discover that it was completely full.

Just the other day I rode to Trader Joe’s and their sizable bike rack had so many bikes crammed into it I wondered how anyone was going to actually get their bikes out. I ended up locking my bike to a heavy iron bench. The Barkley Library is another place that hasn’t quite gotten the message. Their rack is only big enough for two bikes! I’m a frequent visitor and I always have to rack my bike to a lamppost because that mini rack is consistently unavailable. Then there was the day I rode to the gym and found no room for my bike at the main rack. I eventually found another one and it was completely empty. Not surprising because that’s where the smokers hang out during their cigarette breaks. Thankfully, on that day I missed the smokers but the entire area reeked of old cigarettes.

On one hand, full bike racks make me glad that so many people are out on their bikes. On the other hand though, it can mean a frustrating search for someplace to lock up my own bike and requires some creative solutions.